Crime figures jailed following drug operation — 08.06.2007

Two members of a major drug network in Queensland have been sentenced to lengthy jail terms for drug production and trafficking of amphetamines and cocaine following a joint crime operation.

Thirty-seven-year-old Scott Adams appeared in the Brisbane Supreme Court today and was sentenced to ten years and six months in jail while thirty-five-year-old Christopher Plaszewski will serve eleven years.

Both men pleaded guilty last month to charges of trafficking and producing dangerous drugs.

Plaszewski also pleaded guilty to one count of possession of property relating to a ‘pill press’ machine used by the syndicate to produce methylamphetamine pills.

The two men, both from Redcliffe, were part of a highly organised criminal network targeted by the CMC’s Operation Alpha Submission Barrier which was carried out jointly with the Queensland Police Service and the Australian Crime Commission. The operation was shut down in December 2004.

Earlier this year, eight people who were also involved in the drug network pleaded guilty and were sentenced to jail terms ranging from four to eight years.

Two other people have also pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and are due for sentencing on 20 June 2007.

An eleventh person is expected to stand trial later this year.

The operation was carried out over 18 months and also led to the discovery of an illicit drug laboratory on a 40-acre property near Miles in south-western Queensland which was raided in August 2004.

Large quantities of pseudoephedrine tablets were also found at several properties around Queensland.

At the close of the operation, the CMC began confiscation proceedings under the Criminal Proceeds Confiscation Act 2002 against a number of people in relation to property, motor vehicles, bank accounts and cash valued at $1.15 million.